Repercussions
by Bard15
Summary: Epi tag to the Ducky/Jimmy kidnapping episode. Do you really think this latest near miss wouldn't have repercussions for our newly married ME assistant!


**Repercussions**

**Epi tag**

a/n: "Yeah, a Jimmy story where they don't make him look like a total idiot"...believe it or not his babbling fear and crazy shooting was totally in character for our mild mannered ME assistant...the kind of reactions you would get from a "normal" person...and his willingness to use the gun to finally stick up for himself and protect Ducky was in character after what he's been through-after the guy nearly killed him in "About Face", being kidnapped in "Pyramid" and being there to help put NCIS back together after the bombing...& being kidnapped 'again'...& don't think there shouldn't and wouldn't be repercussions to the day...so here's a little AU tag to address the issue the show skimmed over!

**...NCIS DC...**

The walk back to the cabin was made in near silence—everyone processing and coming to terms with the last twelve hours in their own way. Reveling in the fact that, in this case, they had been on time; that the two NCIS ME's had been found, a little worse for wear, but alive. But none could shake the slivers of fear that still crawled through their minds at just how close it had been—seconds either way, this might have had a different ending.

As the cabin came in sight, Gibbs caught each of his agents eyes, nodding towards the crime scene and giving silent commands before guiding Ducky and Jimmy to the ME van. He silently opened the back of the van and gestured for both men to sit on the back bumper of the open door.

Both men sat wearily, Ducky removed his hat and wiped his brow while Jimmy just dropped his head tiredly and ran his hands over his lap.

Noting that the older man had favored his right leg on the trek back to the cabin, Gibbs eyed the two men critically, asking "You two alright?"

Flexing his ankle, and giving a slight wince, Ducky replied, "just a mild sprain, Jethro, nothing to be overly alarmed about..."

Suddenly animate, Jimmy startled the two men by jumping up and exclaiming, "your ankle...we should take care of that..." with that the younger man scrambled into the back of the van, eying the array of drawers and equipment dazedly, as he continued, "...and your heart, we should get you to the hospital...have them check your heart...what if your recovery has been compromised..."

Gibbs and Ducky exchanged concerned looks as the young man began haphazardly pulling out drawers and tossing things around.

"Mr. Palmer, I'm quite alright, lad..." Ducky cajoled gently.

Shaking his head forcefully, Jimmy scanned the scattered contents of the van, "no...no, we need to have you checked out...have to make sure..." the two men jumped when Jimmy slammed one of the drawers shut before pulling open another one and began to frantically search through it, "where is it...why isn't anything where it's supposed to be..."

The two older men exchanged looks again before Gibbs barked out, "Palmer..."

At the commanding tone, Jimmy's head shot up and his glazed eyes locked onto the concerned eyes of the agent, "Palmer, you with us...?"

"Gibbs...Agent Gibbs...you're here...you found us..." Jimmy stuttered.

Both man noticed Jimmy began to sway slightly, causing Ducky to cry out to the young man the same time Gibbs jumped into the back of the van to steady the teetering man.

"Whoa there, Jimmy...I think you need to sit down..." Gibbs ordered gently.

Looking blankly at the hand now grasping his elbow then back up into the worried face of the older agent, Jimmy said quietly, "Uh...I...uh, I don't think I...uh...feel so good..."

Gibbs barely had the balance in the confined space, to catch the younger man when Jimmy's eyes suddenly rolled up in his head and he collapsed.

"Oh my," Ducky exclaimed as he moved to climb into the back of the van, sweeping the scattered equipment aside so Gibbs could lever the young man to the floor of the van.

"Duck, what is it...what's wrong," Gibbs demanded, "I didn't think either of you were injured?"

"It's no doubt the stress and shock of the day finally catching up with him..." Ducky explained as he pointed to the front passenger seat, "his kit, under the seat...I need to check his sugar levels...should have known this would likely happen...he hasn't eaten all day, and he is past due for his insulin shot..."

Handing the doctor the small black case, Gibbs watched Ducky expertly prep the meter and check Jimmy's glucose levels, "he gonna be alright Duck...do we need to get an ambulance up here...?"

Checking the numbers on the meter, Ducky said, "It would save time to just drive him to the hospital as opposed to waiting for an ambulance..."

**...ncis...**

A persistent beeping noise roused Jimmy to groggy, wakefulness and he mumbled tiredly, "jus...five more minutes, Bre...get up in a minute..." his hand shooting out from under the blankets to paw where he expected his alarm clock to be.

Finding nothing but air, he peered out from under the blankets he was warmly nestled under and squinted towards his night stand...only to see the blurry outline of a plain white stand. Startled, he turned over abruptly to scan his out of focus surroundings, making out enough to realize he was not at home in his own bed...sitting up further and fumbling on the stand until he found his glasses he took in his now in focus surroundings—the hospital!?

The hospital? He was in the hospital—why...how...? And taking stock of his body, he realized the annoying beeping that roused him from sleep was not his alarm clock, but the heart monitor.

The fleeting images that played through Jimmy's mind like a disjointed nightmare suddenly intruded on his thoughts and he exclaimed in concerned panic, "Dr. Mallard..."

The frightened shout roused Breanne from her dozing and she shot up from the settee and rushed to Jimmy's side, "Hey...honey, Jimmy...it's alright, you're alright. You're in the hospital..."

"Bre...? Bre, where's Dr. Mallard, is he alright?" Jimmy asked worriedly.

"Jimmy he's fine...he was checked out earlier," Breanne explained as she ran a hand through her husband's hair, "Agent Gibbs insisted he go home and rest..."

Jimmy closed his eyes and let himself be soothed by his wife's gentle touch and reassuring words, as he quietly asked again for reassurance, "you're sure...he's okay...?"

**...ncis...**

"Hey, Duck...wha' cha' got for me..." Gibbs asked as he strode into autopsy.

In just a few days, things had settled back into what passed as "normal" for the NCIS team, as new cases demanded the team's attention.

"It's more like what I don't have at the moment...which are answers, _**and**_ an assistant, " Ducky huffed irritably as he turned from the small communication device set up between the lab and autopsy, "I sent Mr. Palmer to Abby over an hour ago for a simple tox panel on our dead corporal and I still don't have any results..."

Raising an eyebrow, Gibbs asked, "She backed up...?"

"No, she just called to ask why I hadn't sent her anything...Mr. Palmer apparently never made it as far as the lab..." the older man complained, but Gibbs could hear an underlying current of concern laced through the complaint.

"You call him..." Gibbs asked; only to follow the doctor's line of sight to the desk where a cell phone sat.

"His phone is on the desk," Ducky complained, "...that boy would forget his head some days..."

Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, "he doing okay..?"

With a furrowed brow and pursed lips, the older man said with a worried sigh, "I do wonder...I do know he's not sleeping well of late...been rather quiet and distracted these last few days..."

**...ncis la...**

Gibbs stood outside the sliding doors, wondering where the wayward ME assistant had gotten off too. He would be the first to admit, even after all these years, he knew very little about the young man.

He grimaced to think that this experience with the kidnappers had not been the first for the mild mannered man and it angered him that the boy had been put in danger...again, because of his job at NCIS. He was not an agent...it was not his job to come face to face with the criminals...he, like Ducky and Abby were meant to do their jobs in the safety of NCIS headquarters.

And now the boy had another consideration in the face of his latest near miss—his new wife. They had spoken with her briefly the night Jimmy had been admitted for observation, and along with her concern for her husband Gibbs had sensed the underlying tension; which he had, at the time, put down to stress. Now he wondered if there hadn't been more to it.

A quick call to the front gate confirmed Jimmy had not left the Navy yard, he wasn't in the lab or autopsy...so where would the boy go to process all that had happened...a thought came to the older agent and he soon made his way to evidence...

Jimmy had had to do things very much against his gently nature in those harrowing hours he and the older doctor were held captive...chief of which was to not only hold a weapon, but to fire it-to shoot at another human being, to literally save his and Ducky's lives. Though Jimmy and Ducky were practicing ME's they both held Doctorates in Medicine and took their Hippocratic Oath's very seriously...so to purposely cause another human being harm, even those of their kidnappers, was likely very unsettling to the young man.

Quietly exiting the elevator in evidence lock up, Gibbs suspicions were confirmed as he spied Jimmy sitting in evidence lock up. The young man sat in profile, his head bowed and his forearms resting on a small table with an open evidence box lay out in front of him, the gun from the shooting hanging loosely in his hand.

Jimmy startled when a hand come down and wrapped around his hand that was loosely holding the gun grip, "Agent Gibbs! I, uh, what...what are you doing down here?"

Gently removing the weapon and placing it on the table, Gibbs said without preamble, "Palmer, you did what you had to do to keep you and Ducky safe..."

Looking away from the older agent, Jimmy said quietly, "I know...but, I've never even held a gun before...and I...I shot someone...I pulled the trigger on a gun and put bullets in another human beings body..."

"You only clipped the guy, he's fine..." Gibbs stated, "..._**and**_ it was him or you—or Ducky..."

Giving a visible shudder, Jimmy intoned breathily, "...yeah, oh, god...he got up..."

Gibbs startled when Jimmy suddenly jumped up and began pacing the confines of the small area, his tone agitated yet angry, "...he got up. After...after I...after I shot him, he still got up..." stopping to eye the elder man, Jimmy waved his arm in Gibbs direction, "if it hadn't been for you guys...if you hadn't gotten there when...I shot him-and he_** still**_ got up and the gun was out of bullets and Dr. Mallard was hurt...and we couldn't...we didn't have any place else to go..."

Jimmy trailed off, turning to grasp onto the wire cage like a life line...the outburst having confirmed Gibbs suspicion of where the young doctor's head was; his oath to do no harm against his instinct to do whatever it took to survive.

Although loathe to ever put another gun in the young man's hand, Gibbs well understood one's need to feel safe. He gave a heavy sigh and laid a firm hand on Jimmy's shoulder and asked quietly, "would it help to know how to fire the gun...the right way...?"

Jimmy began shaking his head forcefully, "yes...no..." turning to face the senior agent Jimmy said in exasperation, "...I don't know..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Jimmy turned away from the agent and muttered, "It doesn't matter anyway..."

Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, waiting for Jimmy to continue; when nothing was forthcoming, Gibbs asked, "...what doesn't matter?"

"The gun...these feelings...any of it..." Jimmy trailed off again, before adding quietly, "Bre—Breanne, she wants me to...she wants me to...quit NCIS..."

That got Gibbs attention...the boy may not be an agent, but the few close encounters he had experienced in his time with NCIS had never garnered this kind of reaction out of the boy that he was aware of.

Giving himself a chance to digest this piece of news, Gibbs began to casually put the weapon back into its evidence box, asking conversationally as he slid the box back on the shelf, "what do you want?"

Jimmy just shook his head, "honestly, agent Gibbs...I don't know..."

_...ncis...flashback..._

"_Jimmy honey, we need to talk..." Breanne said quietly._

"_Hhmm..." Jimmy intoned contentedly, his wife's gentle caress lulling him into a light doze._

"_Jimmy," Breanne said, giving him a little shake, startling Jimmy. His eyes flew open and he looked up and met his wife's gaze, seeing a look he couldn't decipher._

"_Bre...honey, what is it...are you alright..." Jimmy asked with sudden concern, levering himself up in his bed._

_Breanne gave an exasperated huff, "I'm not the one lying in a hospital bed...after nearly going into diabetic shock from being kidnapped..." her voice rose as the lingering fear threatened to overwhelm her. _

_Grabbing his wife's hands in his, Jimmy attempted to calm the distraught woman, "oh...I'm so sorry Bre...I never meant for you to have to worry like that..."_

"_Oh, Jimmy, I was so scared...those people, they could have...you could have died today..." Breanne exclaimed; her voice cracking as she tried to suppress tears._

"_But I didn't...they team got there in time and Dr. Mallard and I are just fine..." Jimmy attempted to comfort his wife, who was having none of it._

"_The team..." she scoffed, continuing angrily, "...it was hours before they even knew you were missing. I called...I called to see when you were coming home...for our anniversary...I couldn't get a hold of you or Dr. Mallard, and no one on that team knew where either of you were...", her voice cracked as she tried to hold back tears. _

"_Breanne, it wasn't the teams fault...they saved us, Dr. Mallard and I..." Jimmy explained quickly, "the van was on the fritz...they knew it would be awhile before we made it back...you can't blame the team for this, they had no way of knowing..."_

_He reached up to caress his wife's hair and cupped her chin, "you know I would never do anything to worry you...or hurt you; you know that right...?"_

"_I don't want to feel like that again...I don't want to lose you to this job you have at NCIS," ..." Breanne said earnestly as she grabbed her husband's hand and held it tightly to her cheek, "you're a doctor...you're not an agent...you shouldn't have to face these kinds of things..."_

"_Bre, honey, I'm sorry, I really am," Jimmy said, "I don't face the same things the agents do...it was a fluke..."_

"_No...it's happened before...I heard agent DiNozzo and McGee talking at the hospital," Breanne countered, "this...this kind of thing has happened before; you've been put in danger before..._someone shot at you_...__**and**__ wasn't the first time...you've been kidnapped before—right out of the office building!"_

_Jimmy's eyes widened in surprise...just exactly what did Tony and McGee say to his wife...what had she overheard? No doubt the two agents had been comparing his latest misadventure with his other near misses in the past._

"_It's not safe...this job you have," Breanne said earnestly, her voice dropping as she intoned pleadingly, "I...it was too hard...I want you to consider...I want you to consider resigning from NCIS...I just want you safe..."_

_Jimmy just stared at his wife in surprise, unable to form a coherent response..._

**...ncis...**

Shaking himself free of the argument he had with his wife, Jimmy admitted, "Maybe she's right...I don't know if I can do this anymore; at the crime scene yesterday I spent more time looking over my shoulder than doing my job..."

"You and Ducky went through a traumatic experience...it's natural to feel a little shaken," Gibbs explained, adding, "just give yourself some time..."

"I don't know if that's going to be enough this time...it's not just me to consider now...I have to consider what this does to Breanne..." Jimmy replied with a sigh.

Gibbs crossed his arms and leaned against the metal table, "Do you like it here at NCIS...working with Ducky?"

"Yes...!" Jimmy said without hesitation. "The things I've learned from Dr. Mallard...the good, I mean the team, the good you do..."

"You're part of that team too, ya know," Gibbs interjected with a raised brow.

Jimmy looked away shyly, a small smile on his face, "thanks, I hope I help..."

"You do..." Gibbs said.

Jimmy just nodded, asking, "...what should I do?" as he looked up at the older agent. "I don't know what to tell her, how to make her not worry..."

"Oh, she's always gonna worry, Palmer..." Gibbs said with a little smirk.

"So I should quit...?"

Shaking his head, Gibbs replied, "Didn't say that."

When Palmer just looked at him with mild frustration, Gibbs asked pointedly, "Do you want to quit?"

Pulling in and releasing a heavy sigh, Jimmy shook his head, "No...I don't want to quit working here...I like, well despite the occasional bad guy...I like working here, helping Dr. Mallard...working with the team...we do good here..."

"There's your answer..."

"But what do I tell Breanne...?" Jimmy asked.

Shrugging, Gibbs said, "Tell her what you just told me..."

"But how does that help...she'll still worry...she doesn't want me to work at NCIS..." Jimmy said.

Giving a small sigh, Gibbs said, "Palmer...whether here or out there in a civilian job...there aren't any guarantees..."

Pursing his lips, and furrowing his brow, Jimmy slowly nodded, "but what if she doesn't understand...?

"It's understandable, you want her to be happy, but what_** I**_ know is-marriage is a give and take Palmer; and it can't be at the cost of half the relationship...if she loves you...she'll understand that..." Gibbs explained.

Jimmy sighed heavily, nodding slowly, "Thanks Agent Gibbs..."

Gibbs smiled and patted clasped the younger man on the shoulder, "anytime Palmer. Now, I think there's an old doctor that's waiting for some test results..."

Eyes climbing up his forehead, Jimmy exclaimed, "...ah, the evidence...I was supposed to get it to Abby! Oh...ah, I gotta go..."

Gibbs just shook his head and chuckled quietly as the young man grabbed the sample jar from the table and practically ran from the room.

For another day his team was going to be okay...together...family.

**...NCIS...**

a/n: so hope it didn't suck to much...that epi just really, really needed some kind of closure...and really, it's been weeks and not one epi tag to the Ducky/Jimmy kidnapping episode...I feel like the only person who likes those two characters...but, why should I expect anything different when the majority of the stuff that gets posted on this site is all that_** nauseating & tedious**_ Tiva and McAbby **SHIT!**


End file.
